The caterpillar is of a pale flesh tint, rather inclining to greyish ochreous, the dorsal stripe of a darker tint of the same colour well defined on each side by the pale ground colour; next a very broad stripe of pinkish brown, followed by a narrow stripe of the ground colour, faintly edged below with pinkish brown; above the black spiracles is a stripe of pinkish brown freckles; head and plates on first and last rings of the body light brown, shining (Buckler). In the shoots of grasses such as Aira cespitosa, in April and early May, probably after hibernation. The moth is out in May and June, and its haunts are moist woods and marshy grounds, generally. The species is widely distributed, and often common, throughout the British Isles. Abroad it seems to have a very limited range.
The Rosy Minor (Miana literosa).
The ground colour is pale, or dark, violet grey, more or less clouded inwards from the submarginal line, and on the basal area, with purplish; a central reddish or reddish brown band is limited inwardly by the, sometimes, whitish edged black first line, and outwardly by an almost straight black line passing between the stigmata to the inner margin. (Plate [134], Figs. 11, 14.)
The caterpillar is dingy ochreous yellow, with a dark purplish stripe, enclosing a central line of the ground colour, on the back; spiracles black; head dark brown, plates pale brown (Porritt). From September to June, in stems of Carex glauca, Dactylis glomerata, and other grasses. The moth flies in July and August, and although rare inland is pretty generally distributed around the coasts of the British Isles; apparently, from the Clyde area, confined to the east coast of Scotland, and not extending north of Moray.
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| Pl. 134. |
| 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16. | Marbled Minor Moth. | 2, 5, 8. | Middle-barred Minor. |
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| 11, 14. | Rosy Minor. | 3, 6, 9, 12, 15. | Cloaked Minor. |
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| 17, 18. | Least Minor. | 19-21. | Small Dotted Buff. |
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| Pl. 135. |
| 1, 2. | Clouded-bordered Brindle. | 3. | Light Arches. |
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| 4, 5. | Clouded Brindle. | 6. | Reddish Light Arches. |
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| 7, 8. Slender Brindle. |
The Cloaked Minor (Miana bicoloria).